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PLAN 261Urban and Metropolitan Planning and Development

Units
0.50
Faculty
Environment
Subject
Planning

Not in the current Undergraduate Calendar. Shown as it appeared in 2024–25.

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 1 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This course explores the relationship between planning instruments and the urban land use market. It relates urban outcomes to interactions between market processes and planning interventions. It is in this light that it interprets changing urban land use and transportation patterns since the late 1940s, as well as contemporary urban issues. These issues are chosen so as to underscore differences in the circumstances confronting different zones of urbanization (core, inner city, inner suburb, and outer suburb).

Prerequisites

  • Must have completed the following:
    • PLAN100 - Urbanization Today: Introduction to Cities and Regions (0.50)

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Reviewed on UW Flow

55% liked it76% easy43% useful

From 44 ratings and 7 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • This class is the first that had me engaged in the readings every week, which are at the centre of the course material. Brian Doucet's lectures are also very interesting, and he does a great job at tying together a relatively broad and non-specific course.

    Jun 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Interesting course that discusses various theories and perspectives regarding urban development. The course is very dense and reading heavy because you are tested directly on the readings. Brian Doucet is an engaging prof who effectively articulates his ideas in lectures. Unfortunately, his assignments are disorganized and lack clear instructions or guidance.

    Apr 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • A lot of this is common sense planning (i.e. you could recreate much of the knowledge yourself just thinking about planning for a day) with a little bit of a history lesson attached. Many examples were from the US which dampened the value for us a little bit in my opinion, but it raised good thoughts and lessons about different planning tools and contexts.

    Jul 2023 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Little to no feedback was given back on weekly lecture summaries. Extremely difficult to improve when there is zero guidance on what you are doing wrong with generic comments. The grading structure is insane, with only one project worth almost half your mark and weekly lecture summaries that are practically impossible to do well on.

    Feb 2023 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I still couldn't tell you what this course is about. The content is genrally relevant, but very random and repetative. In your lecture summaries, make sure to touch on material covered from both lectures and focus on your analysis/thoughts. Prof (Qian) can be a little out of pocket so watch out

    Apr 2022 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

2 posts and comments in 2 threads mention PLAN 261, January 2020 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Spring 2024

2nd year course selection for Planning 1 point, 2 comments

u/Canadian1girl: “… 2B term - Winter PLAN 203 – Transportation Planning & Analysis PLAN 233 – People and Plans PLAN 261 – Urban & Metropolitan Planning and Development PLAN 281 – Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) But some of these courses don't even exist on this list of …”

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Winter 2020

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar